Reviews with content warning for Colonisation - The Assassin's Blade

This collection of stories about Calaena before the Throne of Glass events was harder to get through than I thought, and I think it’s because I knew the eventual outcome for both Calaena and Sam 😭 I really enjoyed the second and third stories though. I saw the “twist” of whose to blame from a mile away and felt like this grouping of prequel stories didn’t add a lot to the series as a whole, but gave me more time with Calaena’s character. I was really hoping for more info about the HUGE spoiler revealed at the end of Crown of Midnight, but all we got was an allusion to Calaena keeping secrets about her past 👀 So while I enjoyed this read, it didn’t meet my expectations in a couple ways. I am excited to get back into the rest of the series!

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chantellimus's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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merrow's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

It was nice to have some background on this series, but it didn’t really deliver on showing us Adarlan’s Assassin, who

got into trouble and tricked every assassination we were shown

. It’s the same for her first true love, who’s just another enemies to lovers and

lovers for only a month off screen before he’s killed

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arialovegreen's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A good introduction to the series - I finished this as a prequel before starting Throne of Glass and I'm intrigued by the greater political conflict hinted at in the background, and the lovable characters that I'm sure will make appearances later.

I loved Sam and his relationship with Celaena.

Although he might as well have had a neon sign hanging over his head that said "I'm going to be murdered for the plot development later."

I'm intrigued about where things are going for Celaena after this and it sets a very interesting premise for the greater series.

I know there is a lot of back and forth on whether AB should be read first or later on in the mix of the TOG series, but starting with it has increased my intrigue for anyone wondering. Also, my friend who is a diehard fan of TOG swears by starting with AB and I trust her above all else (even you, Ms. SJM).

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